Chita Rivera to be honored by Boston Theater Critics May 13

Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera wasn’t sure how she felt when she first learned that the Boston Theater Critics Association wanted to give her its lifetime achievement award.

"I do feel tremendously blessed by the success I have had in my career, but I often feel like I have been honored enough and I really don’t need anything else," explained Rivera – a recipient of both the Kennedy Center Honors and the Presidential Medal of Freedom – by telephone last week from her home in New York. "And then I heard it was the Elliot Norton Award for Lifetime Achievement and that changed everything. I loved Elliot Norton and I read all of his reviews. Knowing this award is given in his name means the world to me."

Elliot Norton, known as the dean of American drama critics, was a longtime Boston newspaperman who helped establish the Elliot Norton Awards upon his retirement in 1982. A longtime Watertown resident, Norton died in 2003 at the age of 100, but the Nortons – Boston’s answer to the Tony Awards – continue annually to honor this region’s finest theater performers and productions. The BTCA will present the 31st annual Elliot Norton Awards May 13 at Boston’s Paramount Mainstage.

"Elliot Norton was a fabulously smart, fair, and intuitive critic and a very elegant man. What made Mr. Norton such a great critic is that a show’s creative team could learn, and really benefit, from what he had to say," according to Rivera, who has played Boston many times in her storied career. "If you were a theater person, you were always aware of Mr. Norton."

And few theater people are more distinguished than Rivera. The performer, born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington, D.C., hasn’t just played some of the best-known roles in Broadway musicals, she originated them – from Anita in "West Side Story" and Rose in "Bye Bye Birdie" to Velma Kelly in "Chicago" and Aurora in "Kiss of the Spiderwoman." Earlier this season, Rivera again earned acclaim on Broadway, in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." On Oct. 7, Rivera will appear in "Chita: A Legendary Celebration," a one-night-only benefit concert being written by Terrence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, at a Broadway theater to be announced.

"I have been dedicated to BC/EFA since it took its first breath. When they said they wanted to celebrate my birthday (the seemingly ageless Rivera turned 80 on Jan. 23), I agreed as long as I didn’t have to sit there and be lauded, because, while that is wonderful, it is always a tiny bit embarrassing and I never like sitting still," says the song-and-dance woman, who hints that the fall benefit may evolve into her next road show.

It was on an earlier tour, in 1967, when Rivera took over the role of Charity Hope Valentine in "Sweet Charity" from her friend, Gwen Verdon, and found herself gently taking on one of that era’s most estimable drama critics even after earning his praise.

"Mr. Norton wrote me what can only be described as a love letter when I played Gwen’s role in ‘Sweet Charity’ on tour in Boston. He went so far as to say that mine was the best Charity. When I did his TV show – ‘Elliot Norton Reviews’ on WGBH – I remember thanking him, but also correcting him. I told him that Gwen Verdon was the first to breathe life into the role of Charity and she owned that part. Mr. Norton said he understood what I meant. Gwen Verdon was truly an original. You could imitate her, if you liked, but she was the original. When you saw Gwen play a role, you knew you were seeing the best."

The same could be, and often has been, said of Rivera, who brought her last two shows, "Chita Rivera: A Dancer’s Life" in 2007 and "Chita Rivera: My Broadway" in 2012, through Boston, as she did with "Bajour" in 1964, "Sweet Charity" in 1967, "Can-Can" in 1988, and "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" in 1994. For the veteran performer, being on the road, whether pre-Broadway or on tour, has always meant playing Boston.

"I can still remember the first time a producer said one of my shows wouldn’t be playing Boston before Broadway. I said, ‘Are you crazy?’ A Boston audience always helps you build a show and make it better. When you go to Boston, you know the people are smart and also very strong. The buildings are strong, and the food is strong, too. Boston is one of my favorite cities of all time," says Rivera. "Like everyone in the country, Boston has been on my mind a lot lately. What happened last month was a terrible tragedy. The loss of human life is incredibly sad," says Rivera. "I’ve also been following the story of the dancer, Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost her foot in one of the explosions. She seems like a very impressive young woman. Her determination to dance again is very inspirational."